Thrips Attack...Bugs, insects, & other pests...

[Less_travelledby]

Hello all,
Our indoor aquaponic system has been infested with bugs for the past 3 to 4 months.
We have a 125 gallon-tank and a hydroton-filled grow bed. In the tank, we have angel fish and other south-american cichlids. We had been growing a variety of plants (lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, and herbs) with quite a bit of success, until the day we introduce outside plants that we had not grown from seeds ourselves. HUGE mistake!
We believe that the bugs either came from strawberry plants bought at the local nursery, or a hydroponic lettuce bought at the grocery store. This will NEVER happen again...
We believe that we have been infested with a bug called "greenhouse thrips", but we aren't 100% sure and welcome any other suggestions anyone might have.
A couple months ago, we emptied the whole grow-bed, cleaned it up, replaced all the hydrotons, and planted brand-new parsley seeds. The bugs were back in 4 weeks. The pictures below show the condition of the plants after 4 weeks and pictures of the bugs.
We have a couple plan of attacks in mind, but would love to hear how our "fellow-aquaponers" would handle the unwelcome invasion...
Has anyone ever had the same problem?

[Less_travelledby]

Just for comparison... here are pictures of our system BEFORE it got infested. Everything was growing beautifully...

[keith_r]

i've had the same problem with my basement system.. i've used nematodes and ladybugs with good results..right now i've got another outbreak of fungus gnats and aphids so it's time to order some more good bugs - i haven't had a day off this month so the my basement system hasn't been getting the attention it needs
i bought my first batch of ladybugs and nematodes from home depot.. there were around 1500 ladybugs in a pint i think..
the nematodes came on a couple of sponges...
ladybugs will hibernate in your fridge for several weeks so you don't have to release them all at once..
i also use DE (diatomaceous earth) and BT (bacillus thuringiensis)..
some folks swear by a "garlic+chilli+pepper" spray for aphids, but i've definitely had better luck with ladybugs
i'd avoid just about any other bug treatment, especially any that contain oils or soaps (surfectants)

[bcotton]

if you are unable to release insects indoors at your location i had some reasonable success with my indoors aquaponics spraying the plants with diluted alcohol. It's not a cure, just management. Even daily spray bottle with water will help knock them off your plants (temporarily). The bugs do not like water or light, so do it early in the light cycle for best results.

it's aquaponics and indoors, you dont have a lot of options. I've also heard recommendations to use a tobacco tea or to smush up some of the insects into a tea to spray on the plants. Havent tried either.

brian

[urbanfarmer]

Another option is to feed your fish more and give your plants more light. In poorer countries where they can't afford pesticides and such, they will simply put more fertilizer, irrigation, etc. This gets the plants to "outgrow" the pest or disease. Good luck, but fighting against nature is like trying to go surfing in a hurricane.

One other wild idea is: try to leave some small opening that is accessible to "bugs" from outside. Eventually, the pests inside will get to such a level that their "scent" smells like an all-you-can-eat buffet to some kind of predator. I pretty much do this outdoors with my lazy gardener approach. You basically get pests once and never get them again (in any significant amount).

[Less_travelledby]

Thank you my fellow-aquaponers for the suggestions. The bug-approach (aka buy myself a few dozens lady bugs) was next on my line of attack. But I have my system in a finished basement where we spend quite a bit of time, and the idea of sharing the space with ladybugs wasn't too appealing... although we were going to put a big mosquito net over it to try to contain the bugs. Instead, we tried another approach: we have been spraying the plants with a product called "AquaPest-Away" (bought online). It seems pretty natural (mixture of sesame oil, rosemary oil, geranium oil, peppermint oil, citronella oil and water). At first, we sprayed every other day for about 3 weeks, then we went to about once a week. It's been a month now, and I don't see any thrips anymore. The bottle is a little pricey (about $ 20 for 16 oz), but my system is relatively small. I just bought another bottle and will probably spray the leaves sporadically as a preventive measure. A word of caution: if you don't shake the bottle well before spraying, the concentration at the end of the bottle is too strong and will make your plant leaves wilt. Hope it helps!!! :)

[bcotton]

yes, i will store this information away if i ever build something indoors again. Thanks.


brian

[topz]

Very helpful. I had the same yellowing on parsley for the past two months. I had thought it to be a mineral or nutrient problem. I will have to inspect the indoor plants a bit closer. Had an invasion of caterpillars eating indoor cabbage and lettuce hard to miss something chew giant holes in your leaves.

Sorry for bringing an older dormant post to life. None the less it was helpful.

[aquaally]

Less_travelledby, I,m curious. It has been about 2 years since you started using Aqua Pest Away. Do you still use it? Would you still recommend it? Thanks, aquaally